by Leonard Steinberg

We all have to eat. So it is natural and understandable to place one foot ahead of the next and focus on today and maybe tomorrow, but as professionals building thriving businesses – and lives – we need to focus as much on the day after tomorrow and well beyond.

Being present is essential in being fully engaged in a career and life. Who knows what tomorrow brings? However, the smartest, most accomplished people and companies plan for long term needs too. They make plans for weeks, months and years from now and put into place plans, projects and protections to be prepared for this future. There is one certainty in life we can all agree on: change. Markets change. People change. Technologies change. Political leadership changes. We age (all of us, sorry!). Being caught off guard can be debilitating.

We are rather disciplined to take out insurance policies, get a good education and save for retirement. These are established habits. And they all have one thing in common: they involve some investment, sacrifice and a little ‘pain’. Wouldn’t it be much more fun to spend that money on a trip or a new car? But we have learned over time that without these things the relatively minor pains we feel now are far less painful than that which we might experience in the event of a disaster without insurance, a career without education or a retirement without savings.

So what are you doing today to plan for the long term? What could you do to insulate your long term future? What can you invest today – whether in time or money – to be rewarded later? Yes, focus on today and tomorrow as your priority, but dedicate some time and thought – and action steps – to some long term planning.